ROSE HARISSA RECIPE

Rose Harissa is originally from North Africa. Interestingly, for future knowledge, the word ‘Harissa‘ originates from Maghrebi Arabic. Basically, it is the best chilli sauce and one of the most consumed in Africa. In other words, If you enjoy spicy food and hot sauce, rose harissa is the answer. Once you get used to it, you’re going to want to have it on all your meals.

The following rose harissa recipe makes about 500 grs.

INGREDIENTS

500 gr of red bell peppers

1 to 4 chilli peppers, you can choose any type, depending on how spicy you want the harissa to be

5 garlic cloves

4 tablespoons of olive oil and more for preservation

4 tablespoons of dried or fresh edible rose petals, ground

½ tablespoon of rose water

1 teaspoon salt or more to enrich the taste

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 100 C (210 F).

Remove the seeds, stem and pith of the chilli peppers, (use gloves in case you have sensitive skin).

Quarter cut the bell peppers.

Cut in half the chilli peppers lengthwise.

Place all the red bell peppers, chilli peppers and garlic on a baking tray.

Once placed on the baking tray, make sure the skin side of the peppers is placed facing upwards in order to avoid the insides to over-dry in the oven.

Drizzle with some olive oil, about 2 tablespoons to be specific, and then place the baking tray in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

After having your peppers in the oven for one hour, they should look wrinkly. After noticing the positive result, gently remove them from the oven and let them cool down.

Once the peppers and the garlic are cool enough to handle, chop them very finely or process them in a food processor.

Next, heat a large deep frying pan over medium with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Add the bell peppers, chilli peppers and garlic to the hot skillet.

Leave the frying pan on the stove and stir until all liquids have evaporated. The objective we want to attain is that the mixture dries up and eliminates all the liquid from the peppers. This step usually takes about 30 minutes. Note: Make sure not to cover the pan, otherwise the liquid will not evaporate.

Reduce the heat as low as it can be and add both rose petals and rose water to the pan for 10 minutes.

Pour the harissa mix into a sterilized pot. Make sure to leave enough space in the pot to cover the top part with some olive oil. The reason we add the olive oil is because it acts as a natural preservative to the recipe. Lastly, place it into the fridge for up to a month.

ROSE HARISSA RECIPE was last modified: October 20th, 2017 by Nargisse Benkabbou